


A Joke

by Loverboys_Klance



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, IT Chapter Two Spoilers, Love Confessions, M/M, Stanley is only mentioned, benverly is there if you squint, cursing?, sorry if it sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 13:16:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20706626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loverboys_Klance/pseuds/Loverboys_Klance
Summary: It all feels like this long dragged on sick fucking joke.





	A Joke

**Author's Note:**

> This has chapter two spoilers! This is also the first time I've ever uploaded my work to something. I really hope it's not that bad. Also uh chapter two broke me so. And uh I can't write kisses. THIS HASN'T BEEN EDITED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN ME SO SORRY IF THERE'S MISTAKES. (Follow me on Tumblr too!! Garden_of_lilac)(there you can see the list of things I write for and leave requests if you want)

It all feels like this long dragged on sick fucking joke. A joke that had started when Mrs. Uris had told them Stanley was dead. And now, Richie thought, this oh so hilarious joke made him want to vomit.

“He’s not dead guys! We can still help him!” He’s clinging to Eddie like he’s his lifeline and he won’t deny that he partially is.

“Honey, honey... He’s dead.” Rationally, Richie knows he should believe Beverly. He should know because he was the one who’d Eddie had been leaning over with the proudest and happiest smile that had disappeared seconds later. He should know by Eddie’s blood splattered across his face. Both him and Mike had watched Eddie be tossed like a fucking ragdoll across the room. He had ran after him only seconds later. So rationally, he should know. But-

“He’s not dead!” As Richie says that once more, the pulling starts. So does the crumbling. The roof is collapsing all around them and Ben, Bill, Mike, Beverly, the only losers left besides Richie ‘trash mouth’ Tozier were tugging on him so desperately. 

“We’ll never make it if we have to drag him!” Mike yells over the crumbling.

“Yes, we will, Ben come on help me! We can’t leave him here!” Ben hesitates slightly because Richie knows him, he knows that out of everyone it would be Ben to help him. Eddie had stitched up Ben in an alley way for Christ’s sake, didn’t Ben owe him this much?

“Richie...” It’s so weak. It’s so quiet. But Eddie’s voice breaks through their yelling. Richie’s head turns so fast it makes Eddie dizzy. Sweet, adorable- Eddie, Richie thinks, who’s alive and breathing again. The blood is still on his shirt but everyone quickly notices how that wound isn’t there anymore. Richie practically slams Eddie onto his chest as he holds onto him. He tries to lift him up, but the shock and fear that was still making its course through his body just hasn’t left yet. Ben is at his side in seconds as they move quickly through the crumbling hell. 

When they finally break free, they all turn to watch the house crumble. It’s finally over and Stanley... Stanley can finally rest without a worry.  
Bill is gentle as he pulls Eddie into a hug, the others joining quicker than they ever have joined a hug. Eddie is still slowly grasping onto the world but the warmth of his friend grounds him much faster, especially the smile on Richie’s face.

The quarry is incredibly welcoming, beckoning the adults to return to their childhood with Stanley jumping into the lake after being one upped by Beverly. Who once again is the first to move over the sign that really, nobody is going to listen too. She’s the first to leap into the water.

The splash of sudden cold green water has him shivering underneath. Richie rises to the surface with a gasp and suddenly, Eddie is in front of him. A part of Richie wants to just reach out and hold him again but there’s a part begging him not too. Just like the part begging him not to cry right now because there’s no reason to cry. He has to ignore missing Stanley. He has to ignore the fact he had almost lost the love of his life and just keep it in. 

“You know we’re probably just getting more diseases by washing in here.” Eddie says as he uses Richie’s stomach to boost himself backwards, Richie in response grunts ever so slightly.  
“Maybe so.” Beverly says teasingly. But her eyes are locked onto Ben. Richie can see that recognition in their eyes that I’ve been looking for you without even knowing. It makes him happy to see his own friends so happy but a part of him is jealous. 

Richie’s turns to Eddie who’s just been silently watching him. He still can’t believe that’s he’s... breathing.

“Hey, Richie? Rich... what’s wrong?” Eddie’s voice snaps him from his day dream, his hands moving to hold his face in his hands. It’s then that Richie notices he’s begun crying, only worsening from Eddie’s touch.

“Sorry, Eds.” Is all Richie is able to choke through his sobs. His friends watch silently as Richie just lays his head against Eddie’s. His eyes are closed and Eddie’s are quite the opposite as his cheeks flare. “I gotta show you...something, later.”

Eddie wants to joke and say ‘your penis?’ but it’s not very appropriate and he’d rather not out himself right after almost dying. And a part of him would rather not ruin the moment as he finally lets himself relax as Richie holds onto his wrists, keeping his hands on his face, and his eyes fall shut even with the pounding of his heart in his ears.

It’s about an hour later when the two sit in Richie’s car as he drives a route that Eddie faintly recognizes takes them to the kissing bridge. He wants to ask but Richie looks more nervous than he’s ever seen. He’s gripping onto the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles are white, his lips pursed tightly together, and out of the corner of his eyes Eddie can see him glancing over at him every now and then. 

It’s quiet the whole way there and when they finally reach the kissing bridge, Richie slowly comes to a stop. When they do, he unbuckles and his hand hesitates over the handle. He could always play it off as a joke. He doesn’t have to do this; he can just continue to keep quiet. But Eddie is already stepping out of the door and stretching, his shirt pulling up enough to reveal to Richie where that mark should be but it isn’t and it has his heart flushing with relief. He remembers why he wants to do it now. 

“What are we doing here?” Eddie finally asks when Richie steps out of the car, he almost doesn’t catch the way Richie’s façade doesn’t work correctly and he struggles to pull on a smile.

“Trust me, Eddie Spaghetti, it’s gonna blow your fucking mind.”

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that, dickwad.” 

“Not my fault you can’t appreciate a good nickname.” 

Their bickering comes to a stop when Richie stops walking down the road. He drops into a crouch, his hand gently running over something. ‘R+E’ it has Eddie’s brain short-circuiting. 

“I came here and carved this when we were teenagers. And when I saw you again, this was one of the first things I thought about.” Richie goes silent after he says that. He’s thinking every word and every choice he’s about to make over carefully and Eddie can practically see his brain starting up after so long. “I was terrified when you got stabbed. I had made a promise to myself when the fight started that I’d take you here and finally fucking tell you what I’ve been meaning too. And when I thought you were gone I- I... I don’t know. It felt like my whole world was crumbling.” Richie falls silent after this, his heart thumping loudly in his chest, his cheeks burning.

Eddie is speechless only able to whisper a small, “Richie...” and nothing else. He can’t believe that the man he’d been in love with for so long, even without knowing it, is finally admitting this. 

Richie stands up and turns to Eddie who’s standing just in front of him, his eyes flickering across Eddie’s face looking for something, conformation? Disgust? He isn’t sure honestly. But what he does know is that his mind stops. The feeling of Richie’s lips on his had every emotion that just described love swam to the top. He can’t think straight. Every memory of Richie is replaying in his head. His hands on Eddie’s cheeks, holding him in such a gentle way Eddie feels like he’ll lose it’s... it’s just perfect. But it ends to quickly for his liking.

“Fuck, fuck. Sorry, I should’ve said something first.” Richie says when he stumbles back his face mixed with hurt for just a split second before that annoying fucking masks makes it way onto his face once again. “Sorry, Eddie, let’s just- let’s just forget this happened.” 

Richie freezes when Eddie grasps onto his wrist. Eddie isn’t sure what he wants to say. He wants to tell him how whenever he saw him on tv talking about his girlfriend he always got angry. He wants to tell him that he divorced his wife just for him. He wants to tell him how when they were kids, he had kissed Richie when he slept and almost passed out from embarrassment. But nothing comes out.

“I love you too.” Richie’s façade falls at those words as his eyes widen. Eddie can feel his heart thump louder and louder as he walks closer to him. His hands cup his cheeks. Their lips meet and everything finally feels right.


End file.
